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One question often asked about the
‘churches of Christ’ is; “have there always been congregations meeting like
ourselves before the time of Thomas and Alexander Campbell?” The answer is Yes, as this survey will seek to
show.
Sources used in this history include
those at the University Library, Cambridge (over six million books) and the British
Library, London (over thirteen million books).
Appreciation is acknowledged to the
librarians for their time in locating books and manuscripts, many which have not seen the
light of day for many years.
Thanks is also due to my wife Sarah,
for reading and correcting the manuscript.
The New Testament Church is not
a new church, for it was founded on the first Pentecost after the resurrection, nearly two thousand years ago. It has continued since wherever faithful brethren
meet. This web site does not propose a continuous succession, for
the church to exist it requires nothing more than faithful men keeping to
the word of God (Mat. 13:1-23).
One possible objection to this survey
is the question, “how could people without our learning and knowledge come to our
understanding?” The answer has to be
that it is not our understanding but the plain teaching of scripture that these Christians
came to understand, and obey. They lived in
societies which had far greater spiritual values than the materialism of today. Divorce, evolution, denominations, the instrument and so on were not problems to them as they are to us. Likewise they rejected the traditions of
Catholicism which left them with the Bible as their only guide. It was to Christ and His Word to which they
submitted. To suggest that Christianity died
out in the second and third centuries only to be restored in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries is simply too horrible to contemplate.
This survey is an account of
those Christians who throughout time chose to serve the Lord and not to follow after the
traditions of man. Through the writers and
historians of the Catholic church we can read of the charges made against these Christians
and the penalties meted out to them. This
account is not a history of the church in general, nor a defence of the New Testament
church, other excellent books are easily available and are listed for this in the
endnotes. This survey should therefore be
regarded as an addition to other widely available works.
The New Testament of our Lord makes
it quite clear that the church would soon fall into apostasy, the responsibility for
keeping the church pure would be for individual congregations and Christians using the
Word of God.
The charges made against
Christians through time can be paraphrased as follows;
1/ Rejection of infant baptism, their
defence was that infants are without sin and that a person through their own choice should
decide whether they wish to be baptised and wash away their sins, proclaiming the message
of God’s grace and the free will of man.
2/ Rejection of the Eucharist as a
sacrifice, their defence was that the Lord’s supper was not a sacrifice but a
memorial to be taken on the first day of the week.
3/ Rejection of the Old Testament and
certain New Testament passages, their defence was that they held all the scriptures
sacred, but the Word of God needed to be rightly divided, the formal Priesthood of the Old
Testament did not apply in the Christian era was one example.
4/ Rejection of church
buildings and altars, their defence was that any place was a suitable place of Worship.
5/ Rejection of idols and
images, their defence was that this practice was contrary to the Word of God.
6/ Rejection of sprinkling or pouring
as a mode of baptism, their defence was that immersion was commanded in the Word of God.
7/ Rejection of a separate priesthood
and clergy, their defence was that all were equal in Christ, proclaiming the 'Universal
Priesthood of Believers.
8/ Rejection of prayers for the dead,
holy days and good works (without faith, Ephesians 2:8-10 ), their defence
was that these were contrary to the Word of God.
9/ Rejection of celibacy, the defence
was that this was contrary to the Word of God.
10/ Rejection of the hierarchy of
Bishops, the defence was that congregations were autonomous, being overseen by a plurality
of Elders (Bishops).
11/ Another accusation made time and
time again was the crime of heresy of Manichaeism, which goes back to a heretic named
Manes or Mani who died around 276. This
charge has always been strongly denied, evidence suggests that this was a contrived charge
to gain quick conviction. One problem the
authorities have always had with true believers who use the scriptures as a justification
was that their defence could be seen publicly, therefore charges of Gnosticism and
Manichaeism were often bought to gain a fast conviction, usually followed by death by
burning.
12/ Witchcraft, especially for women
including the crime of flying on broomsticks. The
penalty for this was burning.
Did early ‘churches of
Christ’ use the instrument for music in their assembly? No, they did not.
The instrument problem is a recent one and does not affect the time period we are
looking at, having only become common place since the late 1800s.
Such were the complaints made and
such was the defence (a return to scripture as the authority for the church and the
Christian). Their defence by scripture was
rejected by the authorities and banned. The
traditions of the Catholic church would set the standard and many thousands died because
they refused to obey the Pope.
The writer believes the Bible to be
the very Word of God revealed and made available for all mankind. The writer has rejected modern (and not so
modern) evolutionary theories believing in the Genesis account of six day creation less
than 10,000 years ago. This reflects in the
time periods and conclusions made of pre-Roman Celtic and Scandinavian Europe.
Neither statements can change the
ultimate conclusions reached as these are dependent on known history since the time of
Christ and the Bible.
For many people today when presented
with the numerous Christian denominations are totally confused, and rightly so. Calvinism and Catholicism, Jehovah's Witnesses and
Mormons, Anglicans and Baptists, and many, many more, in fact hundreds of
‘Christian’ denominations claim to hold to Biblical truth, yet their doctrines
(as their opponents will happily point out) contradict sound Bible teaching. Yet in the beginning there was one church based
on the teaching of Christ through His apostles, as written and handed down through the
Bible. So how has this confusion come about
and when did it happen? This survey will
attempt to show how this has happened, the struggle of Christians who were faithful in
opposing this, and lastly to show that it is possible still to Worship God in the manner
that He expects.
In fact in view of all of this
confusion the writer believes that the only way to get back to the truth is to use the
Bible, in seeking answers about the Christian Faith.
It would take a lifetime to check each and every denomination and to work
out the history of their particular doctrines, it is far easier and safer to go to the
Bible direct and to ignore the teachings and traditions of men.
In the Bible the inspired writers
claim that Jesus is none other than the Christ, God Himself. The New Testament teaches that salvation is
through Christ, so all mankind needs and is obliged to check these statements found in
Holy Scripture. And we must reach the right
conclusion, for if the Bible is right and we get it wrong we will spend eternity outside
of Heaven and outside of the fellowship of God. Clearly
the most important task of any responsible person is to check the claims made in the Bible
and to act accordingly.
The people who are written about wore
no name other than ‘Christian’. For
convenience in this study we will use the same term and refer to the congregations who met
together to Worship the Lord as ‘churches of Christ’. This description was given in Paul’s letter
to the Romans in chapter sixteen verse sixteen. The
term ‘church of Christ’ is a common designation made in the English language
referring to those churches who are ‘in Christ’.
The 'church of Christ' is none other
than Christians who make up the body of Christ, His spiritual Kingdom on Earth.
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